Desk construction



y 8, 1968 D. SCHREYER 3,385,642

DESK CONSTRUCTION Original Filed 001:. 23, 1965 4 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR KENNETH 0. SCHREYE'R ATTY May 2-8, 1968 K. o. SCHREYER DESK CONSTRUCTION 7 Sheets-rSheet 3' Original Filed Oct. 23, 1965 May 28, 1968 K. 0. SCHRE YER DESK CONSTRUCTION '7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Oct. 23, 1965 FIG. 7

y 8, 1968 K. D. SCHREYER 3,385,642

DESK CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Oct. 23, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIJ FIGJZ I32 57/ I26 l25 1 I32A 12 A 125 y 23, 1968 K. o. SCHREYER 3,385,642

DESK CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Oct. 23, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 10/ Fl G.|4 I05 T 424 Fl G.l6 422 I08 May 2-8, 1968 K. D. SCHREYER DESK CONSTRUCTION.

7 SheetS' -Sheet. 7

Original Filed Oct. 25, 1965 Fl G.I8

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United States Patent ice 3,385,642 DESK CGNSTRUCTKON Kenneth D. dchreyer, Doylcstown, Pin, assignor to Lyon Metal Products, Incorporated, Aurora, ll! a corporation of Illinois riginal application Get. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 593,157. Divided and this application Apr. 5, 1967, Ser. No. 635,941

10 Claims. (65. 312-195) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLQSURE The present invention is directed to a desk including a top having a substantially fiat top plate, a mounting channel disposed on the underside of the top plate and spaced inwardly from the rear edge thereof and including a pair of downwardly extending side walls and a pair of inwardly directed flanges on the lower edges thereof and having the inner edges spaced apart, an edging extending along the rear edge of the top plate and including a dependent side flange that extends downwardly well below the mounting channel; and a back panel disposed below the top adjacent to the rear edge thereof and including a pair of spaced apart and substantially parallel sheet metal side Walls connected by a pair of sheet metal end walls and a sheet metal bottom wall, a body of rigid cellular construction disposed between the side walls and substantially filling the space therebetween, layers of adhesive disposed between the inner surfaces of the side walls 0 The present application is a division of the co-pending application Ser. N0. 503,l57, filed Oct. 23, 1965 for Desk construction.

This invention relates to furniture constructions, and particularly to desks, and to improvements in desk components and the interconnection thereof one with the other.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide an improved back panel for use in furniture construction such as a desk or the like, and specifically for use with the improved furniture top of the present invention, the back panel being of composite construction including a pair of outer metal side walls and a honeycomb construction disposed therebetween and secured thereto by mastic, and a pair of hangers extending upwardly therefrom for engagement with mounting channels on an associated furniture top.

Further features of the invention pertain to the particular arrangement of the parts whereby the above-outlined and additional features thereof are attained.

The invention, both as to its organization and method of construction, together with oher objects and advantages, will best be understood by reference to the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a single pedestal desk made in accordance with and embodying the principles of the present invention;

Patented May 23, 1968 FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the desk of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of the desk of FIGS. 1 and 2;

i6. 4- is an end elevational view of the desk illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 5 is a view of the underside of the top of the desk of FIG. 3 substantially as seen in the direction of the arrows along the line 5-5 thereof, certain portions being broken away and the trim and covering thereon removed;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view in vertical section through the desk top of FIG. 5 along the lines 6-6 thereof;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view in vertical section through the desk top of FIG. 5 along the line 7-7 thereof;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view with certain portions broken away of a corner of the desk top of FIGS. 1 to 4, a portion of the trim being shown in dashed lines in the position thereof immediately prior to installation thereof;

FIG. 9 is a further enlarged view in vertical section similar to FIG. 6 and illustrating specifically the interconnection between the desk top and the pedestal front frame;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary view in horizontal section with certain portions broken away along the line 10-10 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a still further enlarged fragmentary view in vertical section of the portion of the desk top within the circle 11 in FIG. 9;

P16. 12 is a still further enlarged view in vertical section along the line 1212 of FIG. 8 and illustrating the mounting of the trim on the edge of the desk top;

FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 12 and showing a modification of the trim construction;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged fragmentary View with certain portions broken away illustrating the construction of the back panel and the connection thereof to the desk top and the adjacent desk pedestal;

FIG. 15 is a view in vertical section along the line 1515 of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrating the connection between the back panel and the desk p;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged view with certain portions broken away illustrating the construction of the end panel and the connection thereof to the desk top and to the back panel;

FIG. 18 is a view in vertical section along the line 1318 in FIG. 17; and

FIGS. 19 and 20 are enlarged views of that portion of FIG. 18 within the circle designated it and illustrating the internal construction of the end panel.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1 to 4 thereof, there is illustrated a piece of furniture made in accordance with and embodying the principles of the present invention, a lefthand single ped etal desk 109 having been shown for purposes of illustration. The desk includes a desk top 101 at one end of which is disposed a pedestal supported by a pair of legs 50% having associated feet 520, the pedestal 150 having mounted therein a shelf 190, a box drawer 210 and a fi'e drawer 271 the shelf being provided with a pull IdtlP, the box drawer 210 being provided with a pull 21d? and the file drawer 270 being provided with a pull 2701 Mounted on the other end of the desk top fill is an end panel 450 supported by a pair of legs 55% having associated feet 570, the space between the pedestal 159 and the end panel 450 at the rear of the desk top 101 being closed by a back panel 400; as maybe best seen in FIG. 3, the back panel 400 is provided with a pair of wiring openings 415 for the reception of telephone wires and the like. There further is mounted on the desk top 101 a center drawer 380 and a depending front wall or skirt 390, a lock 360 being provided in substantially the center of the front edge of the desk top 101 to lock the several drawers 210, 270 and 380.

Referring now to FIGS. to 13 of the drawings, additional details of construction of the desk top 101 will be described. As is best seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, the desk top 101 includes a generally flat top plate 102 that is generally rectangular in shape, the corners thereof being rounded, the periphery of the top plate 102 being essentially the same as the periphery of the deck top 101. Disposed beneath the top plate 102 and extending around the periphery thereof is an edging 103 also formed of sheet metal, a substantially flat piece of sheet metal having been deformed to provide an attachment flange 104, a side flange 105, a mounting flange 106, a bottom flange 107 and an upturned flange 108. More specifically, the attachment flange 104 is disposed against the underside of the top plate 102 but is spaced inwardly with respect to the outer edge thereof, the outer edge of the attachment flange 104 carrying thereon the mounting flange 106 which is offset downwardly away from the underside of the top plate 102 and extends outwardly slightly beyond the outer edge thereof. As illustrated, the side flange 105 is integral with the mounting flange 106 and depends therefrom and extends slightly inwardly toward the center of the top plate 102, the flange 105 making an angle of for example 75 with respect to the mounting flange 106. The bottom flange 107 is disposed on the lower edge of the side flange 105 and extends inwardly substantially parallel to the flanges 104 and 106 and carries on the inner end thereof the upturned flange 108 that extends upwardly toward the top plate 102 and is disposed substantially normal thereto and to the bottom flange 107.

Preferably the edging 103 is formed of two pieces secured to the to plate 102 by welding at the attachment flange 104 and the abutting edges of the edging 103 located substantially at the midpoints of the shorter top sides are also welded to form seams therebetween. By reference to FIG. 5 it will be seen that the attachment flange 104 is cut out as at 109 at the corners of the table top 101 to permit bending of the remaining portions thereof without providing overlapping of the attachment flanges 104.

Also disposed on the underside of the top plate 102 is a reinforcing sheet 110 formed from a substantially flat piece of sheet metal bent to provide attachment portions 111, ribs 112 having side Walls 113, and connecting portions 114 at the periphery thereof. The attachment portions 111 are disposed toward the underside of the top plate 102, there being a body of mastic 115 applied therebetween (see FIG. 11), the preferred mastic being a heat curing mastic sold under the trademark Presstite No. 719. The attachment portions 111 are further connected to the top plate 102 by welding as at 116, the heat from the welding operation curing the mastic whereby both the mastic 115 and the weld 116 serve to interconnect the attachment portions 111 and the top plate 102 to provide a firm connection therebetween, the mastic also serving to deaden sound transmission therebetween. The side walls 113 depend downwardly from the attachment portion 111 to form the ribs 112 which are spaced from the underside of the top plate 102. The connecting portions 114 are offset from the underside of the top plate 102 to accommodate therebetween portions such as the attachment flange 104 on the edging 103, the three layers mentioned being connected as by welding at 116.

Also mounted beneath the top 101 are two longitudinally extending and substantially parallel and spaced apart mounting channels 120, each mounting channel 120 including a longitudinally extending main wall 121 and a pair of depending side flanges 122 carrying on the lower ends thereof respectively inturned holding flanges 123. As will be explained in detail hereinafter, all of the other parts of the desk are mounted upon the desk top 101 by means of the mounting channels 120.

Disposed on the upper surface of the top plate 102 is a covering 125, preferably formed of a synthetic organic resin, the preferred materials being those sold under the trademarks Textolite, Micarta and Formica. An adhesive is applied both to the upper surface of the top plate 102 and to the lower surface of the covering 125 to provide a good bond therebetween, the preferred adhesive being a synthetic rubber resin adhesive of the contact type such as that sold under the trademark D-SOO by the Armstrong Cork Co., the two parts being oven heated to about 200 F. to drive off the volatile ingredients in the adhesive. The outer edge of the covering 125 extends slightly beyond the outer edge of the top plate 102 (see FIGS. 9 and 12). The upper outer corner being slightly beveled as at 126.

To complete the desk top 101, a decorative trim is provided therearound (see FIGS. 8, 9 and 12 particularly). In a first preferred form of the trim 130, it comprises a length of extruded aluminum metal including a decorative body 131 having a rounded or curved outer surface 132 extending from adjacent to the upper surface of the covering 125 and downwardly below the upper edge of the edging 103 and terminating in the bottom edge 133. Integral with the body 131 is a neck 134 from which extends an integral mounting tongue 135, the tongue being concavely curved as viewed in FIG. 12 and having an inner end 136 disposed against the undersurface of the top plate 102. As constructed, the neck 134 and the mounting tongue 135 both lend resiliency to the trim at the respective points indicated and, as is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 8, the trim 130 is installed upon the desk top 101 by progressively urging the mounting tongue 135 into the space defined between the outer edge of the top plate 102 and the mounting flange 106 on the edging 103. Preferably before installation the mounting tongue 135 has a curvature such that the thickness thereof as viewed in FIG. 12 is greater than the space between the top plate 102 and the flange 106, whereby the mounting tongue 135 must be resiliently deformed upon insertion into that space, whereby the neck 134 and the inner end 136 are pressed against the underside of the top plate 102 while the lower surface of the mounting tongue 135 presses against the upper surface of the mounting flange 106. The resilient neck 134 also accommodates a small amount of movement between the trim body 131 and the mounting tongue 135, thereby to accommodate slight variations in the abutment between the body 131 and the covering 125, preferably the body 131 having an inwardly directed sharp edge 137 that bears into the covering 125 slightly below the upper surface thereof at the bevel 126.

There is illustrated in FIG. 13 of the drawings a modification of the trim, it being noted that the covering 125 also has a notch 126A at the periphery thereof in lieu of the bevel 126 described above with respect to FIG. 12. The trim 130A illustrated in FIG. 13 is preferably formed of sheet metal, the preferred material being stainless steel, which is bent to provide an outer wall 131A, a top flange 132A, a bottom flange 133A, a curved portion 134A, a mounting tongue 135A and an inner end 136A. As illustrated, the outer wall 131A is disposed essentially vertically and carries on the upper edge thereof the top flange 132A that extends inwardly and slightly upwardly from the outer wall 131A and abuts against the edge of the covering 125 at the notch 126A. The lower edge of the outer wall 131A extends downwardly at least to the top of the edging 103 and carries on the lower end thereof the bottom flange 133A that extends inwardly toward the space formed between the top plate 102 and the mounting flange 106. The curved portion 134A extends upwardly from the bottom flange 133 to bear against the undersurface of the top plate 102 and the mounting tongue 135A extends downwardly therefrom and presses against the upper surface of the mounting flange 106, and the inner end 136A is integral therewith and extends upwardly to contact the underside of the top plate 102. Prior to the mounting of the trim 130A and in the normal condition thereof, the curved portion 134A and the mounting tongue 135A and the inner end 136A combine to provide a thickness or vertical extent greater than the distance between the top plate 102 and the flange 106, whereby in the driving of the mounting tongue 135A thereinto, the tongue 135A is resiliently deformed with the curved portion 134A and the inner end 136A being resiliently pressed against the underside of the top plate 102 and the mounting tongue 135A being resiliently urged against the upper surface of the flange 106, thereby resiliently to hold the trim 130A in the mounted position around the periphery of the desk top 101.

As has been mentioned heretofore, all of the other structures combining to form desk 100 are secured to the desk top 131 through the mounting channels 120 on the underside thereof. There is illustrated in FIGS. 9 and of the drawings the details of an improved nut 140 particularly useful for engagement with bolts, it being understood that the nut 140 is not generally accessible to the workmen during assembly with the associated desk bolts. As is best seen in FIG. 10, the nut 140 has the outline of a rhombus having parallel longer sides 141 and parallel shorter sides 142 connected by rounded acute corners 143 and rounded obtuse corners 144. As illustrated, the distance between the sides 141 is slightly less than the distance between the inner edges of the flanges 123, whereby the nut 140 can be inserted therebetween at any point therealong, and the corners 143 are adapted to engage the side flanges 122 of the mounting channels 120 to limit the rotation of the nut 140 with respect thereto. The underside of the nut 140 also has the outer ends cut away as at 145 to provide edges 146 spaced apart a distance slightly less than the distance between the inner edges of the holding flanges 123, whereby the edges 146 depend downwardly along the adjacent inner edge of the associated holding flange 123 also to provide abutment therewith when necessary. Disposed essentially centrally of the nut is a threaded opening 147 threadedly to receive therethrough a threaded shank such as the shank 148 of the bolt 149 as illustrated.

Referring to FIGS. 14 to 20 of the drawings, there are illustrated the details of construction and mounting of the back panel 400, the back panel 4th) being disposed toward the rear of the desk top 101 and disposed immediately below the rear mounting channel 120 thereon and extending between the pedestal 150 and the end panel 450. As may be best seen in FIG. 15, the back panel 400 includes a pair of substantially rectangular side walls 401 formed of sheet metal and disposed substantially parallel to each other, the ends of the side walls 401 being enclosed by end walls 402 and the bottom edges of the side walls 401 being provided with bottom flanges 403 that overlap and are suitably secured together as by welding. The inner side wall 401, i.e., the side wall disposed to the left in FIG. 15, has a rearwardly directed upper flange 404 integral with the upper edge thereof and extending rearwardly toward the outer side wall 401 and terminating adjacent thereto (see FIG. 16 also). The outer side wall 401, i.e., the side wall 401 disposed to the right in FIG. 15, extends upwardly beyond the upper flange 404 and has integral with the upper edge thereof a forwardly directed top flange 405 that overlies and is spaced from the upper flange 404 and in the mounted position is disposed substantially in alignment with the bottom flange 107 on the desk top 101. Disposed between the side walls 401 and the end walls 402 is a filler 410 of cellular construction and formed of a paper product including a pair of outer layers adhesively secured to an inner body of honeycomb construction, the filler 410 being secured by bodies of mastic 411 disposed between the outer surfaces thereof and the inner surfaces of the side walls 401, thereby fixedly to mount the filler410 in the back panel 400.

By reference to FIGS. 14 and 15 it will be seen that the filler 410 extends from a point spaced slightly above the bottom flanges 403 upwardly to the upper flange 404.

The back panel 400, as are all of the other parts of the desk 100, is mounted upon the desk top 101 and particularly upon the rear mounting channel thereof. To this end a pair of hangers 420 is provided, each of the hangers 420 being mounted on the upper portion of the back panel 400 and spaced a short distance inwardly from the end walls 402 thereof. Each hanger 420 further is in the form of a substantially elongated and vertically arranged body extending into an opening 412 in the tiller 410 and upwardly therefrom through aligned slots 406 and 407 in the flanges 404 and 405, respectively, the upper end of the hanger 420 being disposed well above the top flange 405. Integral with the hanger 420 is an attachment flange 421 disposed substantially parallel to the forward side wall 401 and suitably secured thereto as by welding. The upper end of the hanger 420 has a cutout 422 therein that serves to define a hook-like portion 423 at the upper end thereof having a support edge 424 on the underside thereof adapted to engage the upper surface of one of the inturned holding flanges 123 on the associated mounting channel 120. The upper edge of the hook-like portion 423 curves downwardly and forwardly (to the left as viewed in FIGS. 15 and 16) and terminates in a forwardly directed abutment shoulder 425, the abutment shoulder 425 being disposed below the other or forward inturned holding flange 123 on the associated mounting channel 120 and serving to limit movement of the lower end of the back panel 400 in a forward direction. In this manner, the two hangers 420 serve to support the weight of the back panel 400 upon the rear mounting channel 120 and thus upon the desk top 101. Referring to FIG. 3, it will further be seen that the back panel 400 has a pair of wiring openings 415, in the upper edge thereof for receiving telephone wires and the like therethrough.

In order to secure the lower lefthand corner of the back panel 40% to the adjacent rear portion of the pedestal 150, a clip 430 has been provided. The clip 430 is generally a rectangular strip of metal bent and shaped to provide a pedestal attachment flange 431 which lies against the underside of the pedestal bottom wall 167 and is secured thereto as by a screw 435. Integral with the righthand end of the flange 431 as viewed in FIG. 14 is an upwardly curved portion 432 following the curvature of the pedestal and terminating in a back panel attachment flange 433 disposed substantially parallel to the flange 433, the flange 433 passing through an opening in the bottom flanges 403 of the back panel 400 and resting upon the upper surface of the lowermost bottom flange 403 and secured thereto as by a screw 435. The righthand end of the flange 433 carries thereon an offset flange 434 offset downwardly and disposed substantially parallel to the flanges 431 and 433, the flange 434 extending through a second opening in bottom flanges 403 and lying underneath the lower surface of the lowermost bottom flange 403. In this manner, the lower lefthand corner of the back panel 400 is securely fastened to the rear righthand portion of the pedestal 150.

Disposed at the righthand end of the desk 100 is the end panel 450, the construction and connection thereof being best illustrated in FIGS. 17 to 20 of the drawings. The end panel 450 more specifically is disposed adjacent to the righthand edge of the desk top 101 and extends from a point substantially at the lower edge of the front edging 103 rearwardly to a point immediately below the lower edge of the back edging 103 and actually beyond the rear surface of the back panel 400 (see FIGS. 1 to 4 also). As may be best seen in FIG. 18, the end panel 450 includes a pair of substantially rectangular side walls 451 formed of sheet metal and disposed substantially parallel to each other, the ends of the side walls 451 being enclosed by end walls 452 and the bottom edges of the side walls 4-51 being provided with bottom flanges 4S3 that overlap and are suitably secured together as by welding. The inner side Wall 451, i.e., the side wall dis posed to the left in FIG. 18, has a rearwardly directed upper flange 454 integral with the upper edge thereof and extending inwardly toward the pedestal 150. The outer side wall 451, i.e., the side wall 451 disposed to the right in FIG. 18, extends upwardly slightly beyond the upper flange 454 and has integral with the upper edge thereof an inwardly directed top flange 455 that overlies and bears against the upper flange 454 and is suitably secured thereto as by welding, the longitudinal extent of the flanges 454 and 455 being less than the longitudinal extent of the end panel 450, the flanges 454 and 455 terminating at the inner surfaces of the desk top mounting channels 120 as may be best seen in FIG. 17. Disposed between the side walls 451 and the end walls 452 is a filler 460 of cellular construction and formed of a paper product including a pair of outer layers 462 (see FIG. 19) and adhesively secured to an inner body 463 of honeycomb construction and more specifically formed by suitably bent strips of paper having adjacent surfaces glued together as is best illustrated in FIG. 20. The filler 460 is further secured by bodies of mastie 461 to the inner surfaces of the end panel side walls 451 throughout substantially the entire adjacent area thereof, whereby to form a strong yet lightweight structure that has good sound deadening properties. The mastic 461 is preferably a heavy bodied, short, water dispersed asphalt adhesive such as that sold under the trademark W-870 by Armstrong Cork Co. or EC-321 by Minnesota Mining & Mfg. Co. Mounted in each end of the end panel 450 is a generally vertically arranged channel 470 having the lower end thereof spaced upwardly from the lower end of the end panel 450 and extending upwardly beyond the upper end of the end panel 450 as is best seen in FIG. 17, the channel 470 including a main wall 471 and a pair of side flanges 472 integral therewith and disposed parallel to each other, whereby to provide a channel that is essentially U-shaped in cross section. The side flanges 472 are suitably secured as by welding to the inner surfaces of the side walls 451, it being seen from FIG. 18 that the channel 470 extends completely between the side walls 451. There further is disposed within the lower portion of the end panel 450 and adjacent to the lower end of each of the channels 470 a leg support 473 including a bottom wall 474 from which extend upwardly a pair of parallel side walls 475, the upper edges of the side walls 475 sloping downwardly from the associated channel 470 as may be best seen in FIG. 17. The side walls 475 are disposed within the side flanges 472 of the adjacent channel 470 and are suitably secured thereto as by welding. There further are provided in the bottom wall 474 two openings and in alignment with each of the openings is an internally threaded nut, two welded nuts 476 and 477 having been provided as illustrated for the mounting of the associated leg 550 thereon as will be described more fully hereinafter. At the upper end of each of the channels 470 there is provided an anchor clip 480 formed of a single sheet of metal shaped to provide the several parts thereof including an attachment flange 481 resting upon the upper surface of the top flange 455 and suitably secured thereto as by welding. Extending upwardly from the attachment 480 is an upstanding flange 482 that carries on the upper edge thereof an outwardly directed mounting flange 483, both the upstanding flange 482 and the mounting flange 483 having wings 484 extending laterally therefrom and provided in the mounting flange 483 with fastener receiving openings therein to receive bolts 485 for engagement with nuts 140 in the associated mounting channel 120. Further, the mounting flange 483 has on the outer edge thereof a downturned flange 486 that is suitably secured as by welding to the main wall 471 of the associated upstanding channel 470, whereby the anchor p 430 is fi cd y secured both to the channel 479 and the side walls 451,

There further is provided between the lower rear corner of the end panel 451) and the adjacent lower corner of the bottom panel 408 a clip 490 interconnecting the two panels, the clip 490 being formed of a strip of metal bent to provide a back panel attachment flange 491 having integral therewith a curved portion 492 terminating in an end panel attachment flange 493. The back panel attachment flange 491 extends into an opening in the lower wall of the back panel 400 and is secured thereto by means of a screw 494. The end panel attachment flange 493 likewise has an opening therein that receives therethrough a screw (to be described later) that connects the flange 493 to the back flanges 453.

The end panel 450 is supported by two end panel legs 550, one of the legs 551 being disposed toward the forward end of the end panel 459 and the other leg 550 being disposed toward the rear end of the end panel 450, both of the legs being centered laterally under the end panel 450. In order to attach each of the legs 550 to the underside of the end wall 450, two bolts 562 and 565 have been provided as illustrated in the drawings.

Fundamentally the desk is formed of sheet metal with the exception of the several parts mentioned during the above description. Furthermore, the sheet metal forming the various parts is of relatively light gauge, as will be appreciated from the following examples of the gauge of the sheet metal utilized to form various parts of the desk 100. For example, in a typical illustrative embodiment of the desk top 101, the top plate 102 is formed of 20 gauge steel, the edging 103 is formed of 18 gauge steel, reinforcing sheet is formed of 24 gauge steel and the mounting channel is formed of 18 gauge steel. In a typical construction of the back panel 400, the outer side wall 401 is formed of 24 gauge steel, the inner side wall 401 is formed of 26 gauge steel and the hangers 420 are formed of 14 gauge steel. Similarly, in a typical construction of the end panel 450, both of the side walls 451 are formed of 24 gauge steel, the channel 470 is formed of 16 gauge steel, the anchor clips 480 are formed of 14 gauge steel and the leg support 473 is formed of 12 gauge steel.

From the above description it will be seen that there has been provided an improved article of furniture, and specifically an improved desk construction, which fulfills all of the objects and advantages set forth above.

There further has been provided an improved back panel of composite construction including a pair of outer metal side walls and a honeycomb construction disposed therebetween and secured thereto by mastic; provided on the back panel is a pair of hangers for mounting the back panel on the mounting channels of the improved furniture top.

While there have been described what are at present considered to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be understood that various modifications may be made therein, and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A desk top and back panel construction comprising a top including a substantially flat top plate, a mounting channel disposed adjacent to the underside of said top plate and spaced inwardly from the rear edge thereof and secured thereto, said mounting channel including a pair of downwardly extending side walls and a pair of inwardly directed retaining flanges on the lower edges thereof and having the inner edges spaced apart, an edging extending along the rear edge of said top plate and including :a dependent side flange that extends downwardly well below said mounting channel, a back panel disposed below said top adjacent to the rear edge thereof, and a pair of hangers respectively attached to said back panel at spaced apart points thereon and extending upwardly therefrom, each of said hangers having a hook portion extending upwardly through the space between the adjacent edges of said retaining flanges and overlying one of said retaining flanges to mount said back panel upon said mounting channel.

2. The desk top and back panel construction set forth in claim 1, wherein said back panel is disposed directly below said mounting channel and extends upwardly at least to the lower edge of said edging, thereby to conceal the connection between said desk top and said back panel.

3. The desk top and back panel construction set forth in claim 1, wherein each of said hangers further includes an abutment shoulder disposed on the side thereof opposite the direction in which said hook portion extends, said abutment shoulder engaging the lower surface of the other of said retaining flanges to assist in positioning said back panel with respect to said desk top.

4. A desk back panel comprising a pair of spaced apart and substantially parallel sheet metal side walls, a pair of sheet metal end walls interconnecting said side walls at the opposite ends thereof and a sheet metal bottom Wall interconnecting said side walls at the lower edges thereof, a body of rigid cellular construction disposed between said side walls and extending between said end walls and substantially filling the space therebetween, layers of adhesive disposed between the inner surfaces of said side walls and the adjacent surface of said body of cellular construction for securing said side walls to said body of cellular construction throughout the adjacent surfaces thereof, and a pair of hangers respectively attached to said back panel at spaced apart points thereon and extending upwardly therefrom, each of said hangers having a hook portion at the upper end thereof for engagement on a retaining flange.

5. The desk top and back panel construction set forth in claim 4, wherein the upper edge of said back panel has a wiring opening therethrough immediately below said top.

6. The desk back panel set forth in claim 4, wherein the one of said side walls to be disposed outwardly in use extending well above the other to cover the major portion of said hangers.

7. The desk back panel set forth in claim 4, wherein the one of said side walls to be disposed outwardly in use extending well above the other and having a flange on the upper edge thereof extending in a direction toward said other side wall.

8. The desk back panel set forth in claim 4, wherein the one of said side walls to be disposed outwardly in use extends well above the upper edge of the other one of said side walls and carries on the upper edge thereof a first flange extending toward the other one of said side walls, and the upper edge of the other one of said side walls having a second flange thereon extending toward said one side wall and overlying the upper portion of said body of rigid cellular construction.

9. The desk back panel set forth in claim 4, wherein each of the hangers further has an abutment shoulder disposed on the side thereof opposite the direction in which said hook portions extend, said abutment shoulders in use assisting in positioning the back panel with respect to the other structures.

10. The desk back panel set forth in claim 4, wherein a pair of wiring openings is provided along the upper edge thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,906,574 9/1959 Bullock 312-194 X 3,125,387 3/1964 Abrahamson 312-195 3,177,046 4/1965 Ericson et a1 312-195 3,194,188 7/1965 Hamilton et al. 312-194 X 3,222,113 12/1965 Hamilton et a1 312-194 JAMES MCCALL, Primary Examiner. 

